31 May 2008

When I see a headline like "Skynet military launch postponed" on BBC, I go, huh? What the hell? This is really spooky. Are nuclear holocaust and robot killing machines really just around the corner? Then I remember that Skynet is also the name of the UK military satellite communication system. A quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that it was originally created in the late sixties, years before Terminator. I wonder if the writers of Terminator were aware of the system? Most likely not, it being a UK system and all. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have named their evil AI after a real life military system. I know I wouldn't. Or at least if I would, I'd make sure it really was a fictional version of the system it was named after, and not a namesake in another country.

Still, nomen est omen and so forth. Maybe one day the real Skynet, in existence since long before the creators of Terminator thought up their futuristic vision, will become sentient and destroy the world...